What’s the story?
Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter spoke with Bryan Alvarez of Wrestling Observer Radio and gave his opinion on Dean Ambrose and how he thinks Ambrose won’t get past a certain level in the WWE.
Meltzer was asked a question regarding Ambrose not being placed in the position of the ‘top guy’ and Meltzer said that he felt that the WWE just didn’t see Ambrose as a top Superstar.
“For whatever reason, they never saw him as the top guy. And he did get the top guy position by default when Roman Reigns failed the drug test and they had to suspend him and they just needed a top guy and Cena was gone. So, Dean was the guy, but it wasn’t really their pick to make him the top guy, it was kinda by default and those kinds of guys usually end up back where they were before.”
In case you didn’t know
Ambrose’s only WWE Championship reign came from cashing in his Money in the Bank Briefcase on Seth Rollins last year. He would hold the Championship for 84 Days before he lost it to AJ Styles at the inaugural SmackDown exclusive pay-per-view Backlash.
Some of Ambrose’s other notable accomplishments include recently becoming a two-time Intercontinental Champion, 17th Money in the Bank winner, and the longest United States Champion in WWE history.
The heart of the matter
Since losing the Championship, many fans expected Ambrose to stay away from the main event scene for a while. Most fans assumed he would find himself in a role similar to Mick Foley during the Attitude Era; solid upper mid carder, but not a headline worthy wrestler.
Despite being one of the most popular wrestlers in 2014 to early 2016, the WWE didn’t give him the Championship belt until mid-2016.
What’s next?
Ambrose is only 31 years old and still has plenty of time in his career, so the jury is still out on his potential as a consistent main event player. The WWE may give him a World Championship push again, but only time will tell.
Sportskeeda’s take
Meltzer’s thoughts on Ambrose seem spot on and will likely tell the tale for the rest of his career in the WWE. Ambrose was clearly more over than fellow Shield Member Roman Reigns, but the WWE went with Reigns, and Ambrose has only lost momentum over the years.
By the time he won the championship in 2016, he was far less over than he was in 2014, where his reactions were being compared to Stone Cold Steve Austin. Ambrose is the current Intercontinental Champion and many feel like that will be a temporary fix until he faces Baron Corbin for the title; presumably at WrestleMania.
The Lunatic Fringe may be viewed as a better talker and wrestler than Reigns, but that will change nothing so long as WWE doesn’t want Ambrose to become a main event star.
Send us news tips at [email protected]
